Now, arguing upon these facts, and they would appear most undoubtedly
to be facts, what possible answer can the materialist or the sceptic
give to the assertion that they are a double proof of the continuity of
personality and the possibility of communication? Can any reasonable
system of telepathy explain how Miss Cameron discovered the intimate
points characteristic of young Gaylord? And then, how are we
afterwards, by any possible telepathy, to explain the revelation to
Mrs. Nicol of the identity of her communicant, Fred Bridger, with the
Fred Gaylord who had been written of by Miss Cameron. The case for
return seems to me a very convincing one, though I contend now, as
ever, that it is not the return of the lost ones which is of such
cogent interest as the message from the beyond which they bear with
them.
C
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
On this subject I should recommend the reader to consult Coates'
"Photographing the Invisible," which states, in a thoughtful and
moderate way, the evidence for this most remarkable phase, and
illustrates it with many examples. It is pointed out that here, as
always, fraud must be carefully guarded against, having been admitted
in the case of the French spirit photographer, Buguet.
There are, however, a large number of cases where the photograph, under
rigid test conditions in which fraud has been absolutely barred, has
reproduced the features of the dead. Here there are limitations and
restrictions which call for careful study and observation. These faces
of the dead are in some cases as contoured and as recognisable as they
were in life, and correspond with no pre-existing picture or
photograph. One such case absolutely critic-proof is enough, one would
think, to establish survival, and these valid cases are to be counted
not in ones, but in hundreds. On the other hand, many of the
likenesses, obtained under the same test conditions, are obviously
simulacra or pictures built up by some psychic force, not necessarily
by the individual spirits themselves, to represent the dead. In some
undoubtedly genuine cases it is an exact, or almost exact, reproduction
of an existing picture, as if the conscious intelligent force, whatever
it might be, had consulted it as to the former appearance of the
deceased, and had then built it up in exact accordance with the
original. In such cases the spirit face may show as a flat surface
instead of a contour. Rigid examination has shown that the existing
model was usually outside the ken of the photographer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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